Blog

Starting Over Summer

Starting Over Summer

Settling down before the semester starts

October 22, 2018 | Somesh M.

Out of school for a year, I was not sure if I could fit in classes, choosing a lab, doing research, and settling down in a new country all at once when I started graduate school in the fall. So, when the option on the acceptance letter said that I could join over the summer […]

The Risks of Speaking Up

The Risks of Speaking Up

How to win a speech competition by going meta

October 22, 2018 | Anna I.

Ping – a new email in my inbox. It was a reminder that I had signed up for the “MIT Can Talk” Oratory Competition, taking place tomorrow. The email window stayed open for a while, waiting patiently while I was deciding whether I still wanted to participate. I had just submitted a paper for a […]

The Yellow Zone

The Yellow Zone

Five Ways to Break Out of the Department Bubble

August 9, 2018 | Paige B.

In my very first lecture at MIT Sloan School of Management, a professor started class with a drawing of a huge three-ring target. The bullseye was colored green, the middle ring was yellow, and the outer ring was red. “This is your comfort zone,” she said, pointing to the green circle. “We want you to […]

Exploring Scientific Boundaries

Exploring Scientific Boundaries

Musings of a scholar in progress

August 9, 2018 | Ricardo A.

I was recently asked by a colleague of mine here at MIT whether I thought that urban planning and design could be considered true science. His point was that the discipline lacked the precision of the natural and exact sciences. Whatever findings we get from our research couldn’t really be labeled as measurable, replicable, or […]

Don’t Study; Imagine

Don’t Study; Imagine

Creativity is a critical ingredient to learning

July 27, 2018 | Dustin H.

When I was quite young I asked my mother if I could take apart a VCR – a relic of the old times when movies came from video rental stores on cassettes you had to rewind. Like any good mother, she told me that I was under no circumstances allowed to disassemble what she paid […]